Excerpts from: Preliminary Report on the Beneficial Effect of Chloromycetin in the Treatment of Typhoid Fever

Chloromycetin is a crystalline substance obtained through processes of concentration and purification of culture in liquid media of a Streptomyces sp. originally isolated by Burkholder,† and shown by him to possess anti-bacterial activity. Erlich and associates1 in the Research Laboratories of Parke, Davis and Company carried out studies of the antibiotic activity of this Streptomyces which led to preparation of the crystalline antibiotic compound to which Erlich gave the name Chloromycetin. Chloromycetin is a neutral compound containing both nitrogen and nonionic chlorine. In distilled water it withstands boiling for five hours, and in aqueous solutions over the pH range 2 to 9 is unaffected by standing at room temperature for more than 24 hours. Its solubility in water at 25 C. is about 2.5 mg./ml. and it is reported as very soluble in propylene glycol, methanol, ethanol, butanol and acetone. It is well absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. Serum levels of the drug after oral administration have been found to be comparable to those obtained by parenteral injection. Present evidence indicates that the antibiotic is fairly rapidly excreted or inactivated. Reported toxicity experiments on animals2 indicate that when